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Why does my 2-year-old Labrador's hair loss keep coming back?

Updated on September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Labrador Retriever | Male | 2 years and 6 months old

labrador retriever 2 years old, having severe hair loss. given antibiotics several times, during that medication in the first 10 days hair loss gradually stops, after 20 days hair slowly grows. medicines will be for 20 days 1 per day. still after 2 month same hair loss happens

3 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

Lauren Kennedy, DVM

Answered By Lauren Kennedy, DVM

Veterinarian

Published on June 2nd, 2018

It looks as if your dog has a skin infection, most commonly caused by an allergy, a skin mite (Demodex) or fleas. 

The allergy could be a due to a protein in your dog’s food or an environmental allergy like to dust, pollens, grasses, etc. 

The allergy causes your dog to itch and chew at the skin which breaks down the skin barrier. This then leads to infection. Skin infections are typically characterized by large areas of hair loss, redness, crusting, flaking, and pustules.

A thorough skin examination by your veterinarian should be able to determine the cause of the itch so it can be treated appropriately. A skin scraping and skin cytology should be performed to rule out mites and to determine the type of infection present (bacterial vs fungal).

Your dog will most likely need antibiotics/antifungals longterm to help clear up the infection and possibly an allergy/anti-itch medication like Apoquel, Atopica, or Cytopoint to give some relief while the infection clears up. A medicated shampoo will be beneficial as well. I would also recommend he be on a good flea control routinely too. Once the infection has resolved a long term allergy medication (like Apoquel or Cytopoint) can be given on a regular basis to prevent any future problems.

I hope this helps. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. Best of luck.

Vote Icon1Pet Parents found this answer helpful

Related Answers from Veterinarians

  • Answered By Jessica Keay, DVM

    Veterinarian

    Published on June 12th, 2017

    Your dog likely has had a chronic skin infection of bacteria, yeast, or both and needs a long course of systemic (oral) antibiotic and ant-fungal medication. It is possible this could be secondary to allergies but I would also recommend a skin scrape to be sure we don't have mange mites as well. She needs veterinary care now and will likely require long- term treatment.

    Vote Icon

    1Pet Parents found this answer helpful

  • Answered By Dr. Massimo Orioles, DVM, Cert AVP, MRCVS

    Veterinarian

    Published on April 7th, 2020

    Hi, and thanks for your question.
    Although a picture of it would help to give you a more specific answer, this could be due to an allergy, although it could also be infection or mites. First of all, in order to rule out skin parasites, you will need to treat with a high quality flea treatment, then ask the vet to perform a skin scrape - this might reveal an infection or a mite infestation. If all of those came back negative, the next step is to treat the allergy symptomatically and try to discover the cause of the allergy. Three main type of allergies are usually affecting pets: food allergies, flea and parasite related ones and environmental type (allergens coming from trees, pollens, dust etc etc). Some medications can be given by the vet in order to repair any possible skin lesions (like steroids and antibiotics). The following products can be found online and can be tried as a first line approach: Douxo PS Calm shampoo, Essential 6 spot on by dermoscent, Krillex Krill oil chews.
    Hope this answer was helpful, but please do not hesitate to contact us again on the forum or by requesting a consultation if you have any more questions or to discuss it any further. If this answer was helpful please let us know, this will be used to improve our service!

    Vote Icon

    1Pet Parents found this answer helpful

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Why is my senior Lab itching, losing hair, and has tangled white fur?
It looks as if your dog has a skin infection, most commonly caused by an allergy, a skin mite (Demodex) or fleas. 

The allergy could be a due to a protein in your dog’s food or an environmental allergy like to dust, pollens, grasses, etc. 

The allergy causes your dog to itch and chew at the skin which breaks down the skin barrier. This then leads to infection. Skin infections are typically characterized by large areas of hair loss, redness, crusting, flaking, and pustules. A thorough skin examination by your veterinarian should be able to determine the cause of the itch so it can be treated appropriately. Your dog will most likely need antibiotics to help clear up the infection and possibly an allergy/anti-itch medication like Apoquel, Atopica, or Cytopoint to give some relief while the infection clears up. A medicated shampoo may be beneficial as well. I would also recommend he be on a good flea control routinely too. Once the infection has resolved a long term allergy medication (like Apoquel or Cytopoint) can be given on a regular basis to prevent any future problems. I hope this helps. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. Best of luck.
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Why is my dog still itching with hair loss and red skin after treatment?
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Why is my dog's skin infection spreading to his ears and body?
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The allergy could be a due to a protein in your dog’s food or an environmental allergy like to dust, pollens, grasses, etc. 

The allergy causes your dog to itch and chew at the skin which breaks down the skin barrier. This then leads to infection. Skin infections are typically characterized by large areas of hair loss, redness, crusting, flaking, and pustules. A thorough skin examination by your veterinarian should be able to determine the cause of the itch so it can be treated appropriately. Your dog will most likely need antibiotics to help clear up the infection and possibly an allergy/anti-itch medication like Apoquel, Atopica, or Cytopoint to give some relief while the infection clears up. A medicated shampoo may be beneficial as well. I would also recommend he be on a good flea control routinely too. Once the infection has resolved a long term allergy medication (like Apoquel or Cytopoint) can be given on a regular basis to prevent any future problems. I hope this helps. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. Best of luck.
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